kentuckymom Posted April 8, 2016 Posted April 8, 2016 Okay, I think I've made all of my decisions for Squirrelboy's first year of homeschool. I haven't purchased anything yet, though, so I'm still open to critiques. Am I missing anything? Am I trying to do too much? History/Geography: Bookshark 5, Eastern Hemisphere Science: Novare Earth Science (this is a new program that I learned about on another thread here) LA: ELTL 5, plus AAS for spelling, HWOT cursive, possibly adding in some parts of the Bravewriter lifestyle if things are going smoothly Math: Saxon, probably 7/6, but I'll have to give him a placement test to be sure - supplementing with Beast Academy starting with 3A to teach deeper problem solving skills Latin: Getting Started with Latin Bible: I'm still up in the air about this, but I'm leaning toward MP Christian Studies We're tentatively planning music lessons of some kind, but which instrument is up in the air. We'll do a Coop once a week, which focuses on electives. Quote
LMD Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 Looks fine to me too, trust your instincts! Have a great year! Quote
kentuckymom Posted April 9, 2016 Author Posted April 9, 2016 Thanks for the encouragement! I think we're going to have a great year! Quote
Heatherwith4 Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 Looks great! I'm needing to start on 6th grade plans for my oldest....I can't believe we are already to that point. Quote
mlktwins Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 I think it looks good too. I'm still working on mine. Have you seen this thread http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/585924-2016-2017-6th-grade-plan/ ? Quote
................... Posted April 9, 2016 Posted April 9, 2016 Okay, I think I've made all of my decisions for Squirrelboy's first year of homeschool. I haven't purchased anything yet, though, so I'm still open to critiques. Am I missing anything? Am I trying to do too much? History/Geography: Bookshark 5, Eastern Hemisphere Science: Novare Earth Science (this is a new program that I learned about on another thread here) LA: ELTL 5, plus AAS for spelling, HWOT cursive, possibly adding in some parts of the Bravewriter lifestyle if things are going smoothly Math: Saxon, probably 7/6, but I'll have to give him a placement test to be sure - supplementing with Beast Academy starting with 3A to teach deeper problem solving skills Latin: Getting Started with Latin Bible: I'm still up in the air about this, but I'm leaning toward MP Christian Studies We're tentatively planning music lessons of some kind, but which instrument is up in the air. We'll do a Coop once a week, which focuses on electives. Hi! Congratulations on homeschooling!! The only questions I would have are: 1. Is he a very struggling speller? AAS takes several years to complete and is very time intensive and also expensive, so I would not recommend starting it this late unless he is truly struggling and you think the Orton Gillingham approach is what he needs. 2.HWOT is a different cursive style than the school probably taught him. This late in the game, it would be very annoying and frustrating to learn a new style. However if he NEVER learned cursive at all, than HWOT is one of the best choices. Overall, it looks like too much LA also for 6th grade...I would hold off on BraveWriter and just stick with ELTL for this year. 3. The math is a good choice, because if there's one thing good about Saxon, it's that it'll fill in EVERy arithmetic gap from the ground up. Be aware though, the lessons are long and tedious and you may have to get creative with giving a break halfway through, or doing some of it together on the white board, or whatever. It looks like a great, full plan... because of time constraints, you may have to do something simple for Bible like just read a chapter and discuss each day.... Blessings on your first year! Also, what are you doing for PE? Your son will hit puberty this year and will SERIOUSLY need TONS of exercise to stay happy and healthy, sleep well and keep the emotions in check throughout the next 6-8 years. Quote
Janeway Posted April 10, 2016 Posted April 10, 2016 Okay, I think I've made all of my decisions for Squirrelboy's first year of homeschool. I haven't purchased anything yet, though, so I'm still open to critiques. Am I missing anything? Am I trying to do too much? History/Geography: Bookshark 5, Eastern Hemisphere Science: Novare Earth Science (this is a new program that I learned about on another thread here) LA: ELTL 5, plus AAS for spelling, HWOT cursive, possibly adding in some parts of the Bravewriter lifestyle if things are going smoothly Math: Saxon, probably 7/6, but I'll have to give him a placement test to be sure - supplementing with Beast Academy starting with 3A to teach deeper problem solving skills Latin: Getting Started with Latin Bible: I'm still up in the air about this, but I'm leaning toward MP Christian Studies We're tentatively planning music lessons of some kind, but which instrument is up in the air. We'll do a Coop once a week, which focuses on electives. I do not like what you are doing for math. Neither program needs supplements and you will burn him out. Plus, no one who is ready for Saxon 7/6 would need BA 3A. I would way prefer BA so I would cut the Saxon. But regardless, I would not do them together. And those levels could not possibly go together. 1 Quote
Janeway Posted April 10, 2016 Posted April 10, 2016 Hi! Congratulations on homeschooling!! The only questions I would have are: 1. Is he a very struggling speller? AAS takes several years to complete and is very time intensive and also expensive, so I would not recommend starting it this late unless he is truly struggling and you think the Orton Gillingham approach is what he needs. 2.HWOT is a different cursive style than the school probably taught him. This late in the game, it would be very annoying and frustrating to learn a new style. However if he NEVER learned cursive at all, than HWOT is one of the best choices. Overall, it looks like too much LA also for 6th grade...I would hold off on BraveWriter and just stick with ELTL for this year. I am going to agree with this. Also, I personally do not like Saxon. We have so many other great choices now. But, it is not the worst program. 1 Quote
Roseto27 Posted April 10, 2016 Posted April 10, 2016 I do not like what you are doing for math. Neither program needs supplements and you will burn him out. Plus, no one who is ready for Saxon 7/6 would need BA 3A. I would way prefer BA so I would cut the Saxon. But regardless, I would not do them together. And those levels could not possibly go together. I disagree. We use BA as a supplement for both of my older two. They're using abeka 3 and 4 accelerated to double pace this year. I like the traditional/algorithmic approach, but it's dry and not deep enough. They love BA and ask to do it on the weekends, etc. While I know that it *can* stand alone, it's just not how we're using it. Even so, we're nowhere near burnout. I do think that a 6th grader will likely fly through the 3a-d series (we haven't started 4a yet). Are you hoping to use it as a primer for AOPS preA? Quote
LMD Posted April 11, 2016 Posted April 11, 2016 I think beast is a perfect fun, deep and problem solvingy math to supplement Saxon. But my 6th grader is doing (and loving) 3 different math books so maybe don't ask me! 1 Quote
................... Posted April 11, 2016 Posted April 11, 2016 My dd did two maths - one main and one supplement - this year and it was fine, but she also had a very streamlined school year overall :) 1 Quote
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